“They Keep Returning to Chow Kit Road After Being Released From Prison” - Exploring the View of Professional Government Officers and Volunteers Towards the Internal Migration of Homeless Former Prisoners in Malaysia

Abstract

In Malaysia, the migration and the concentration of homeless former prisoners around Chow Kit Road are not new, given that they choose to return to Chow Kit Road each time they are released. Government agencies and NGOs are aware of the concentration of homeless former prisoners from different states within Malaysia in Chow Kit Road because the NGOs around Chow Kit Road distribute food aid to help them. Hence, a qualitative method was employed in this study by interviewing two groups of samples, namely nine professional government officers and nine volunteer informants who serve around Chow Kit Road. Experienced government officers and volunteer informants divided the findings into two superordinate themes. The views of professional government officers lead to the formation of four sub-themes, namely the personal, social, economic, and urban infrastructure and services offered. In comparison, the superordinate themes determined by the volunteer informants included four sub-themes: economic, social, and personal factors, together with urban infrastructure and services. This study provided an overview of factors that attract these former prisoners to continue to migrate and concentrate in Chow Kit Road based on the perspectives of a professional government officer and volunteer informants.